I’m not normally moved to “defend” Ayn Rand or her philosophies either…
…and I have little hope for the movie, although I’m sure I’ll see it someday. But this column by Michael Gerson is just the kind of quarter-intelligent mindless parroting of unexamined liberal crap that drives me to blog.
So here we go. Gerson writes:
Many libertarians trace their inspiration to Rand’s novels, while sometimes distancing themselves from Objectivism. But both libertarians and Objectivists are moved by the mania of a single idea — a freedom indistinguishable from selfishness.
I’ll admit that Rand doesn’t give us much – or any – ammunition against this idea. But while “Atlas Shrugged” is adamant about your property belonging solely to you, it’s also silent on individual charity.
But, look: if your property belongs to you, you can do what you damn well please with it. Including give it away. You just shouldn’t be forced to.
This “freedom” that libertarians cherish isn’t “indistinguishable from selfishness” unless you define “selfishness” as the desire to choose for yourself.
Libertarianism doesn’t forbid charity. It opposes forced charity – an oxymoron if I ever heard one. That’s a mistake every liberal – and a lot of conservatives – make. It’s the mistake Gerson is making. Not wanting your property taken from you and not wanting to give willingly are not the same thing.
Gerson quotes Rand as saying:
“The Objectivist ethics, in essence,” said Rand, “hold that man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself.”
That doesn’t preclude charity as a choice. Some of us find a great deal of contentment in helping our fellow man. I – an evil fiscal conservative – would even suggest that there’s more happiness in giving than there is in hoarding wealth for oneself. And we can damn well pursue that if we want to, but you shouldn’t be able to force us.
Via Jesse Walker, via Instapundit.
In the Fountainhead, Howard Roark helps out a guy who has fallen on hard times.
‘Nuff said.
Yea, Gerson’s column just shows you can’t trust Republicans any more than you can the Dems. Both want to take our money. Case in point: look at this new telecom regulatory reform bill in Madison. The GOP is pushing it and claiming it is a “deregulation” bill, then sticking an access charge for all VOIP services. Oh, and by “access charge” they mean “tax”. Glad we’re calling a spade a spade on this one (*with heavy sarcasm)
I have seen the movie and there was a part near the beginning where Reardon is asked about giving money to a friend for a charity. Reardon agreed, but then the friend told him to make the check out to him rather than the charity because the charity would not want any from Reardon. So giving to charity is a a choice someone can make of their own will, not at someone else’s, we can choose
And, I might add, there’s a big difference between: (a) Giving to charities that you are convinced are efficient and effective versus being forced to give to charities that you know squander huge amount of money on administrative overhead, or that foster dependency, or that fail to distinguish the truly needy from those who are gaming the system, etc. (b) Choosing to give to charities that champion causes you believe in versus being forced to give to charities that fight for social or political goals that you oppose.
It is not “greedy” to say, “I would prefer to give my money to the Salvation Army to help the homeless rather than to the Indoor Rain Forest of Iowa to … to do what exactly?”
Ah ha! Someone else has heard of this freaking phone tax/access charge thing, though i have faith in our state GOP that it wasn’t them pushing it. Maybe compromise item to get the bill through? Whoever’s pushing it, here’s to hoping it gets pulled but quick.
Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Fred Thompson walk down the street one Friday when a down & out guy asks for hel. Fred pats him on the shoulder, reaches into his own pocket and pulls out $50 and his card. “Here,” he says, “this’ll help thru the weekend. Here is my card; come see me Monday and we’ll see about getting you a job.” The guy is so thankful and leaves. Hillary is impressed. Then another guy asks for help. Hill gestures that she will handle this. She pats the guy on the shoulder, reached into Fred’s paocket and takes out $50. After taking $20 for overhead, she gives the guy the money and a card. “Here, this’ll help thru the weekend. And here is the nearest welfare agency. Go see them to get onto a program.” Ah, there is the difference.